The Daily Bruin

All George Fox employees can purchase Entertainment 2011 Books at a discounted employee price. Enjoy $30 in bonus savings cards with each edition. Example copies are available for viewing at the Information Desk in the Stevens Center (see Barbi Doran).

Order yours (Portland and/or Greater Oregon) for only $20 (retail price is $35). Call Susan Lowry-Nix at Entertainment Publications at 503-753-7045 or e-mail her at slowry-nix@entertainment.com to order your copy.

One last reminder: The deadline for submissions to the William Stafford poetry contest is Wednesday, Dec. 8, at midnight. This is an excellent opportunity for students to become published in an upcoming anthology of poetry honoring Stafford. As well, each of the three finalists will receive $50 compensation for their work.

We have received some submissions already, however we would like to see more! Submissions should be electronically sent to william.stafford.poetry@gmail.com.

For more information, click this link. Questions? Write peaceandjustice@georgefox.edu

This Friday, Dec. 10, is the final day employees will be able to complete the Best Christian Workplaces survey, so please take about 10 minutes to do so this week if you haven’t already. Just log in to this link and use the access code 2079-571.

If you would rather complete the survey on paper, please request it from Chris Koch. You can then return it to him and he will ensure that it is submitted confidentially. The Best Christian Workplaces Institute will present the survey results in summary format to maintain all employees’ confidentiality. These results will be shared with employees early in 2011.

Wednesday, Dec. 8, is the final day employees may pick up their complimentary tickets for Saturday’s employee Christmas concert event. Stop by the first-floor Information Center in the Stevens Center before 5 p.m. to claim your two free tickets (for employees half time and above).

The presentation, “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear,” is scheduled this Friday through Sunday, Dec. 10-12, in Bauman Auditorium. Performances are scheduled Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. The complimentary tickets are designated for Saturday’s performance. Additional tickets may be purchased at music.georgefox.edu.

Questions? Contact Debbie Hawblitzel (Performing Arts) at ext. 2620 or dhawblit@georgefox.edu.

Shane Roghaar, our TIAA-CREF representative will be at Portland Center Tuesday, December 14 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

You may make an appointment with him to discuss your investments by opening the invitation on the HR/Benefits web page: http://www.georgefox.edu/offices/hr/EmployeeBenefits/beneforms.html

The university’s Center for Peace and Justice will host an evening with Liberian speaker Saah Joseph, who will present “From Liberia with Love: Experiences of War/A Life of Peace” from 7 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 8, in the Cap and Gown Room.

Joseph grew up as a Christian in Liberia, left his family at a young age, and escaped from the war to Sierra Leone when he was 12. After encountering another war, Joseph fled through three more countries until ending up at a refugee camp.

Joseph has worked with humanitarian organizations, including the Red Cross, for which he helped reunite war-torn families. He returned to Liberia and started to set up schools for refugee children. Currently, Joseph works at an organization called PLAN for the Children Humanitarian Aid. The organization recently started a school in a refugee camp, Mount Barcley, which enrolls 900 children.

In addition to Joseph’s presentation, the evening will include a special musical performance by Lasana “Lazso,” who will sing African gospel songs before and after Joseph’s talk. He too escaped war in his native country and survived persecution, poverty and personal failure.

Questions? Contact Melanie Newell at ext. 2686 or mnewell@georgefox.edu.

Monday, Dec. 6, is the last day to R.S.V.P. for the employee Christmas celebration on Saturday, Dec. 11.

The event includes:

• Hors d’oeuvres and dessert, featuring special music, Christmas carols, and a devotional, at 5:30 p.m. in the Stevens Center. Please R.S.V.P. to Evangeline Pattison (ext. 2121) or epattison@georgefox.edu by the end of Monday.

• Christmas Concert: “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear,” at 7:30 p.m. in Bauman Auditorium. George Fox employees may pick up their complimentary tickets – limit two per employee – at the first-floor Information Center in Stevens Center. Phone reservations will not be taken except for employees at the Portland and Salem centers. (If you find you will not be able to attend the concert, please return your tickets). Tickets will be available through Wednesday, Dec. 8, at 5 p.m.

Questions? Contact Evangeline at ext. 2121 or epattison@georgefox.edu.

University policy allows a maximum of one year’s vacation accrual to be carried over into the next year. Any excess accrued vacation balance is forfeited.

Available on the HR website are vacation accrual charts with instructions, one each for support staff and administrators. Please use a chart along with the information on your Nov. 30 pay statement to determine if you need to use any vacation before Jan. 1, 2011.

Please keep in mind that the vacation balance on your Nov. 30 pay statement:

• Does not include any vacation you may have taken in November since those time sheets and time-off reports have not yet been received or processed in HR
• Does not include vacation you will earn in December

Links to these charts can be found at this link. If you have vacation hours that should be used by Dec. 31, please talk to you supervisor about scheduling time off between now and then.

December holidays include Thursday and Friday, Dec. 23-24; Monday, Dec. 27; and Friday, Dec. 31.

If you have any questions after you have reviewed your vacation balance and the chart that applies to your vacation accrual, feel free to contact HR for assistance.

Looking for on-campus employment, an internship, or full-time employment? Check out BruinCareers, a new interactive job-posting system for students and alumni. In MyGFU, click on Career Services > BruinCareers. New users must create a new account.

Questions? Contact Career Services at careers@georgefox.edu or 503-554-2330.

Would you take a few seconds (literally, seconds) to complete a two-question survey? We’d like to find out if you have an iPad and if you’d be interested in finding out how people are using their iPads.

Go to a George Fox faculty poll, iPad Use, at this link. Thanks from your grateful IT staff.

Just a reminder: The Bruin Bookstore’s buyback is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, Dec. 13-17, in the SUB.

Join us for textbook buyback Monday through Friday, Dec. 13-17, in the SUB outside the Bruin Bookstore. We’ll be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

The university community is invited to a farewell reception in honor of Reid Kisling (Registrar) from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 17, in the Stevens Center’s Duke Atrium. Reid has accepted the position of senior pastor at Grace Baptist Church in Newberg and will be leaving the university Dec. 31 after five years of service.

Do you have a colleague deserving of the December Employee of the Month award? If so, please take a few minutes to submit a nomination that includes a specific summary of the person’s recent contributions (past 30 days or so) and any other information that you believe makes this person deserving of this award.

Please submit your nomination via e-mail to Peggy Kilburg by Monday, Dec. 13. The President’s Executive Leadership Team will select the recipient from the nominations submitted. This award and a $100 gift card to The Allison will be presented at our community meeting on Thursday, Dec. 16.

Student supervisors: Pay day for student employees is Wednesday, Dec. 15. For us to meet this deadline, we need your students’ October time sheets by 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3.

Please be sure the student’s name, ID number and cost center number is legible on each one. Please total them. Also, don’t forget to sign them and be sure the students did as well. Please do not send students to HR to sign their time sheets.

Thanks so much for helping us get our students paid in a timely manner!

– HR

The Health and Counseling Center has free doses of Gardasil vaccine for women ages 18-26. This vaccine helps prevent HPV infection and cervical cancer. It is usually $145 per dose and is a series of three shots over six months.

Please call the Health and Counseling Center at 503-554-2340 if you would like to schedule an appointment. You can find out more information about this in the November issue of Student Health 101.

We are having our last flu shot clinic for the year on Thursday, Dec. 2. The cost is $15, but if you have the GFU student insurance it is only $1.50! It’s still free for employees with Regence.

There are only 50 doses left, so give us a call to schedule an appointment at 503-554-2340.

Join fellow George Fox employees (halftime and over) and their spouses (no children, please) for an evening of Christmas festivities on Saturday, Dec. 11.

The evening includes:

• Hors d’oeuvres and dessert, featuring special music, Christmas carols, and a devotional, at 5:30 p.m. in the Stevens Center. Please R.S.V.P. to Evangeline Pattison (ext. 2121) or epattison@georgefox.edu by Monday, Dec. 6.

• Christmas Concert: “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear,” at 7:30 p.m. in Bauman Auditorium. George Fox employees may pick up their complimentary tickets – limit two per employee – starting Wednesday, Dec. 1, at 9 a.m. at the first-floor Information Center in Stevens Center. Phone reservations will not be taken except for employees at the Portland and Salem centers. (If you find you will not be able to attend the concert, please return your tickets). Tickets will be available through Wednesday, Dec. 8, at 5 p.m.

Questions? Contact Evangeline at ext. 2121 or epattison@georgefox.edu.

Interested in living or working overseas, but not sure how to do it? The Big Guide to Living and Working Overseas can help. Your Office of Career Services has a subscription to this great interactive website that allows you to access its abundant resources for free.

Visit careers.georgefox.edu and find the link under “News and Updates” to activate your free account. Once registered, you can network with others interested in living or working abroad, both inside and outside of George Fox, and can access numerous videos and text resources to help you prepare for your upcoming adventure.

If you have any questions, please contact Career Services at ext. 2330, via e-mail at careers@georgefox.edu, or in person at our new location on the first floor of the Stevens Center.

To show support for 43 volunteer public health workers who were illegally arrested in the Philippines, George Fox student leaders will wear yellow T-shirts Wednesday that match those worn by the prisoners.

All those wearing shirts are asked to attend chapel. Afterward, at 11:30 a.m., we will gather around the Centennial Tower for a few minutes of prayer for the Morong 43. The shirts will then be passed on to other community members, and the passing on of shirts will continue every day throughout the week.

The campus community is welcome to join in Wednesday’s events. They are being organized to support the volunteer public health workers illegally arrested in the Philippines in February – victims of political impunity and injustice.